Dear parents and carers,

This week has seen the Yr. 6 children continuing to prepare for their move to high school with more transition days.  It is an interesting time as the everyone at school prepares for the move to new classes and all the things that come with changing grade levels.

There are many activities taking place across our school, and home activities are ramping up with the busyness of harvest, end of year festivities and general daily routines. I encourage all our children to ensure that they are getting enough rest as this is important to ensure that the end of the year is an enjoyable time.

The hot weather has also impacted us in recent days, and I thank everyone for the way that this weather has been handled.  This is also a time to be mindful that others might also be feeling tired or under pressure and as such it is good to see the children looking to help where they can.

Green oval - Last Friday the final part of the recycled water project was completed.  It is fantastic to know that we can now water the oval regularly with access to water now secured. 

We are now also able to look at using the rainwater tanks to water the front gardens and look to maintain these for use by the children.

Many people have been involved in working towards the completion of this project and I thank you all your efforts to achieve this for our children.

Our Presentation Night is on Tuesday December 8.  The event will begin at 6:30pm.  Please be aware that there are several Covid Safe health regulations that we will need to observe on the night. 

Please remember that all families will need to sign in on Tuesday evening and each family group will need to be seated at least 1.5m apart.

Our End of Year Mass will be on Tuesday December 15, commencing at 6:00pm.  We will also have similar Covid Safe regulations in place for that event.  It is terrific that we can proceed with these events.

At present our teachers are working on the reports for this semester in preparation for distribution later this term.

There will be an opportunity for you to meet with your child’s class teacher if required. 

Please contact us at school to book an appointment for parent teacher interviews if required.

SwimSafe – our swimming program will take place next week.  Please ensure that all of the children have all of their swimming equipment for every day next week.

Remember to bring:

• Towel
• Swimmers
• Rashie
• Sunscreen
• Thongs

You might be aware that the Australian Air Force was conducting low flying exercise in the Grenfell area yesterday.  As you can see from the snap below, not everyone was looking in the right direction as they flew by then circled around…

Library – as we are now moving towards the end of the year, please start looking for those extra library books to return to school.  They might be under the bed, on the coffee table, in the pile of things on the kitchen bench.

All returns will be appreciated – our record for the most overdue library book returned this week is 1523 days, I wonder if we can beat that with returns over the next few days?

Calendar - You might notice that our newsletter calendar has clicked over to 2021 – we are already in the planning stages for next year, and dates that we have available have been included. Please note that there may be some minor changes.

P & F Lunch Special Event – the next P & F lunch special will be held tomorrow. The $7 combo includes a Hamburger with Lettuce, tomato, meat patty with tomato sauce, zooper doper and popper.

Please note that the Canteen will serve recess however, WILL NOT be making lunches next week.

P & F Lunch special is coming from Filo’s @ Enhance.  Choices include:

Fish & Chips - $7.00

Small Chips - $3.50

Orders need to be returned to school by Monday December 7

Annual General Meeting – the AGM for the St Joseph’s Parents and Friends Association will be held on Tuesday February 16, 2021 in the School Library commencing at 7:00pm – all welcome

Changes to routine - Thank you to those families who are keeping us informed when children are absent from school, or there are changes to the regular routine. 

 Please make it your custom to check in at the office if your children are running late to school – we appreciate your efforts to do this.

Catholic School Parents Newsletter - The link below will take you to the latest edition of the Council of Catholic School Parents Newsletter, it makes for interesting reading.

https://ccsp.schoolzineplus.com/newsletter/69642/#a0

 Take care and stay safe

‘Tis the season to be giving…and you certainly have been! As of this morning, we have received 117 food items, which will be donated to the Grenfell Food Hall for their Christmas hampers or general use. I am always amazed at how much we can collect, in spite of our size. Thanks so much for your generosity. That’s the real spirit of Christmas to me.

If you have any last items to donate, please send them in by Friday the 4^th of December.

This Sunday we celebrate the second Sunday of Advent. Here is a prayer as we continue our spiritual journey towards the birth of Jesus.

Lord, like a loving parent,
you offer me your comforting hand

Help me to wait for your coming with patience
and to listen to what you ask of me.

I want so much to be one of “your people”
and to live my life in you.

Thank you for the way you bless my life.
Thank you for listening to my prayers
and for planting deep in my heart
the knowledge that with you,
nothing is impossible.

Amen

Prayer retrieved from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent/aweek2.html

Peace and blessings to all as we journey through Advent, waiting patiently for the joy of Christmas.

Our camera found its way into K/1 during reading this week.

Yr. 2/3/4 have been hard at work with their design project in maths this week.

Yr. 5/6 have been busily finalising their Kreative Koala project.   As you can see, their work is looking terrific.

We have also been eating our way through the vegies from our garden.

This week the purple carrots have been a hit!